Loulan

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by Marsha Levine

Loulan (40° 29’ 55" N and 89° 55’ 22" E [Hou Can, 1985], also known as Kroraina), one of the ancient walled city-states of the Tarim basin, was strategically located on what was, during the Former Han dynasty, the southern branch of the Silk Road (Hulsewé and Loewe 1979). Its remains are situated in the delta of the Kuruk-Darya, a distributary of the Tarim river, and on the northwest bank of Lop Nur, the ‘Salt Marsh’ (Ma and Wang 1994, p. 211). All these waterways, like Lop Nur itself, are dry today but until the 4th century AD, and intermittently since then, the rivers fed Lop Nur (Hare 1998, p. 79).

The Swedish explorer, Sven Hedin, discovered Loulan in 1899. Further archaeological investigations were carried out by the Aurel Stein from Britain and by Zuicho Tachibana from Japan. It is widely believed that these early explorations owed at least as much to foreign intrigue as to the quest for knowledge (Hopkirk 1980). More recent investigations have been carried out by Hou Can (Can 1985).

Although it is best known from historical records covering the period between the 2nd century BC and the 4th century AD, Loulan was settled much earlier by people who made microlithic stone tools - from flint, chalcedony and other materials - which are found in concentrations on the surface of the ground, sometimes mixed with pottery sherds and polished stone tools (Can 1985, p. 158). These artifact scatters, found within Loulan and in localities around it, might date to the Neolithic or, in some cases, even to the preceding Mesolithic. Further archaeological evidence of the early occupation of Loulan comes from human burials. The Tarim basin in general is famous for the naturally mummified corpses recovered from its cemeteries. Among the earliest of the mummies, dating to around 1800 BC, are those from Loulan (Mallory and Mair 2000).

A traveler leaving the Yang barrier, the westernmost terminus of the Han defenses at the northwestern tip of present day Kansu province, taking the Southern Route westwards through the Tarim basin, would journey 1600 li (640 km) through the desert to reach the walled city of Loulan (Hulsewé and Loewe 1979, p. 82). Departing westwards from Loulan, the traveler would again be forced to reenter the desert. Loulan then, the easternmost oasis city-state in the Tarim basin, controlled access along the Southern Route from China to the rest of the Western Regions (present-day Xinjiang) and to Central Asia.

Chang Ch’ien, the famous Han traveler, apparently never visited Loulan himself (Hulsewé and Loewe 1979, p. 77). However, the Chinese were familiar with the name, Loulan, at least as early as 176 BC, when Mao-tun, the Hsiung-nu leader, informed the Han emperor Wen of his conquest of Loulan and other Tarim basin states (Hulsewé and Loewe 1979, p. 81). First hand accounts of the city-state seem to date from the period following Chang Ch’ien’s return from Central Asia to China around 125 BC (Hulsewé and Loewe 1979, p. 129). Encouraged by Chang Ch’ien’s reports, the emperor Wu-ti sent envoys west to establish new trade routes. However, they found less than a warm welcome along the routes where the Hsiung-nu, rather than the Chinese, were the most powerful force.

Besides spying for the Hsiung-nu, Loulan was one of the states which attacked Han envoys traveling along the Southern Route (Hulsewé and Loewe 1979, pp. 86-7). Such treatment was unacceptable to the Han. Military expeditions were dispatched to the Tarim basin and in 108 BC the Han defeated Loulan. In order to ensure the security of his state, the king of Loulan sent one son to the Han and one to the Hsiung-nu as hostages. This situation was never very secure for the Chinese, so in 77 BC, the Han had the king of Loulan murdered and changed the name of the state to Shan-shan, which now became a Chinese colony (Hulsewé and Loewe 1979, pp. 91-2).

The Han-shu description of Shan-Shan, stating that it had "1570 households, 14,100 individuals with 2912 persons able to bear arms", seems to date to the period after 77 BC (Hulsewé and Loewe 1979, p. 83). The Han-shu continues: "The land is sandy and salt, and there are few cultivated fields." The people of Shan-shan had to trade with other states for plant foods. They themselves produced "jade, rushes, tamarisk, the balsam poplar, and white grass" (Hulsewé and Loewe 1979, p. 85). In fact, they seem to have been semi-nomadic: "In company with their flocks and herds the inhabitants go in search of water and pasture, and there are asses, horses and a large number of camels" (Hulsewé and Loewe 1979, p. 85). Like other nomadic groups, they were skilled in making military weapons (Hulsewé and Loewe 1979, p. 85). They also acted as guides and carried water and provisions for Han travelers (Hulsewé and Loewe 1979, p. 89).

At least as early as the Western Han period the inhabitants of Loulan were mainly Europoid and probably spoke an Indo-European language, perhaps Tocharian (Guangda 1996, pp. 283-4).

Cemeteries from Loulan’s historic period, dating to both the Western and Eastern Han dynasties, have been excavated. The preservation state of many of the objects within the graves was superb: a beautifully decorated bronze mirror, ceramics, silk (including brocades and embroideries), wool and cotton textiles, lacquerware, wooden utensils and furniture, and coins (Can 1985, p. 163-4). The remains of structures – houses, government buildings, granaries, Buddhist pagodas, beacon towers and city walls – as well as remnants of mural paintings and sculptures, cannot always be accurately dated. The stylistic criteria suggest that the earliest structural remains date to the Han dynasties. Most of the standing remains however are apparently later, dating to around the 3rd century AD – to the Kingdom of Wei and especially to the Western Jin dynasty – when, according to the textual evidence on wooden strips and paper, Loulan was at its most prosperous. During those periods Loulan was the seat of the prefectural governor of the Western Regions (Can 1985, p. 166).

The documentary evidence suggests that Loulan was occupied at least until around AD 330 when the Kuruk-Darya changed its course, leaving the city without water (Can 1985, p. 175).